This Issue's TLDR...

• How Helium 10 blew the largest lead in history
• Why promotion stacking works
• Some potentially good legislation for Amazon sellers

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Let's open up our Amazon SaaS History books, class.

For the past 10+ years, there have been two main players in the Amazon SaaS ecosystem: Jungle Scout and Helium 10.

It was the two of those companies...and then all the rest.

Two years ago, things changed.

Jungle Scout changed ownership and founder Greg Mercer got a well-deserved exit.

As part of the changing of the guard, Jungle Scout pushed even harder up-market, toward enterprise clients.

They weren't outwardly anti-seller, but it's been clear that they haven't really been innovating on behalf of sellers and engaging the Amazon seller community in the way that they used to.

This seemingly cleared the playing field, and handed Helium 10 the ball, with a clear path to the end zone (that's an American football metaphor, for all my non-US readers).

But...Helium 10 didn't exactly take advantage of the market gap.

Instead -- and this is one man's opinion, from the outside looking in -- it seems that Helium 10 has fumbled the ball...

Let's start with last July, when Helium 10 pulled the rug out from its affiliates, many of whom had passionately promoted Helium 10 for years, and relied on their affiliate income.

Suffice it to say, the change wasn't well-received by many people across the Amazon ecosystem.

And, just this week, it seems[1] that Helium 10 "crappified" their Platinum plan by reducing entitlements.

At the same time, Helium 10 is investing in seller-friendly features (shout-out to my friend Andrew Bell and his work with the Helium 10 team on its AI Listing Builder) and continuing to "lead" the Amazon conversation through its media properties.

So, maybe Helium 10 isn't abandoning its base. Maybe, it's simply resetting its P&L based on the increased costs of running an Amazon SaaS business.

Either way, it feels like they are fumbling the ball at the 1-yard line...

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Most advanced Amazon sellers know from experience that promotion stacking works.

Some advanced Amazon sellers know from painful experience that promotion stacking really works.

Amazon sellers tend to be ahead of the curve in a lot of aspects of running a business (e.g., AI adoption), so it usually takes the rest of the world -- especially academia -- time to catch up.

And, it's validated to see that happen.

Here, for example, is an academic study that basically says that promotion stacking works better than single discounts.

Key findings of this study:

• People are more likely to engage with a discount and want to buy the item if the promotion is stacked (e.g. 10% new customer deal + 10% special sale) compared to a single discount of the same amount (e.g. 20% discount).
• People were more willing to buy regardless of the type of stacked discounts offered (e.g. percentage off or $5 off)

Why this works:

• Being able to stack different discounts together is rare, making us feel the promotion we’re getting is more valuable.
• When we’re able to combine different (e.g. a coupon via email plus a discount from a particular credit card) we feel like we’re getting more value from a promotion, making it more attractive.
• We value stacked discounts more because of the extra effort it takes to put the discounts together, just like we’re more likely to redeem a discount when we need to complete a small task (e.g. filling in a CAPTCHA) to access it.
• Since a stacked deal seems rarer, it also creates a sense of urgency compelling us to act fast so that we don’t lose the deal.

BEST from X

If New York adopts this, expect other states to follow...which is a good thing.

Amazon Sellers ASGTG @AmazonASGTG 🚨ASGTG MAJOR ALERT 🚨 What if Amazon couldn’t just shut you down overnight? Currently there’s: No warning. No real explanation. No meaningful and fair appeal process. A new bill in NY is trying to change that. Under the bill, sellers would get: - A real notice period to 1:17 AM • Mar 25, 2026 6 Retweets 41 Likes Read 5 replies

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That's just pending legislation though...

Some New York legislation that has actually been signed into law, which you need to be aware of is New York's "Synthetic Performer" law.

Basically, if you've been an early adopter of AI avatars and GenAI UGC for your ads or social media content, starting June 6, you'll need to conspicuously disclose that the "actors" are AI.

...Or face fines of up to $5k per violation.

Expect other states (I'm looking at you, California) to follow suit here.

Rob Freund @RobertFreundLaw Many comments correctly pointing out that the example videos would violate the FTC Act today if posted as-is. Keep in mind that starting June 6, NY’s new “synthetic performer” law would also require a conspicuous disclosure that the girl is AI. https://twitter.com/mho_23/status/2034623575085261274 Miko @Mho_23 here's another AI UGC video from our new system our new system is extremely good at details: > handles accurate product placement > realistic voice > stable/controllable movements > infinite length can make them at scale & FAST if you know what you're doing best time to be 2:15 PM • Mar 20, 2026 7 Retweets 135 Likes Read 12 replies

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